


Less Volatile

by ZiGraves



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Angst, Break Up, M/M, night vale is not a good place for healthy relationship disclosures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-10
Updated: 2013-09-10
Packaged: 2017-12-26 05:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/962200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZiGraves/pseuds/ZiGraves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by this quote:</p>
<p>And you tried to change, didn’t you? Closed your mouth more. Tried to be softer, prettier, less volatile, less awake… You can’t make homes out of human beings. Someone should have already told you that. And if he wants to leave, then let him leave. You are terrifying, and strange, and beautiful. Something not everyone knows how to love.<br/>- Warsan Shire, For Women Who Are Difficult To Love</p>
<p>And that should be warning enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Less Volatile

"Mmmm….”

Carlos practically purred sometimes, Cecil noticed. Scalp massages did it especially, which was just _lovely_ because Carlos had absolutely the perfect scalp for massaging. By Cecil’s reckoning, at least.

Today’s massage was especially earned because Carlos, whose admirably unrestrained scientific instinct ensured he never could learn to leave well enough alone, had managed to traumatise himself by attempting to bravely intervene when a hooded figure went to carry off a child. It had taken so much petting and soothing to bring him back down to the level of complacency that really, any resident of Night Vale should be deliberately cultivating.

And now he was calm enough, head cradled in Cecil’s lap, to make little purring noises.

It was quite the most adorable thing Cecil had ever heard from someone with such a strong and masculine jaw.

“You are an excellent boyfriend,” Cecil attempted to say, “intelligent and gorgeous, thoughtful and very cute when you make that little noise.”

He didn’t succeed, barely squeaking out a “You’re neat!”, but Carlos smiled all the same, and nuzzled in against his shirt, and really that was a great sort of a response even if Cecil had fudged his compliment.

“Well, you’re neat, too.” Carlos’ breath was warm through the fabric, tickling Cecil’s skin. Cecil practiced his best adoring gaze when Carlos rolled over to look up at him, richly caramel skin framed in dark hair swept with just a touch of silver. “And you’re saying those things out loud. Cecil, you’re very sweet, but you need a filter between brain and mouth.”

“Again? Sorry, sorry, I thought I had it under control-”

Carlos’ hand, callused and scarred from many years of rigorous scientific activity, gently came up to tap him on the lips before his apology could run away with itself. Cecil leaned into it, the palm cool against his inescapable blush.

He wasn’t sure what the right words were for Carlos’ expression just then. Wondering, maybe, or fond, or - Cecil dared to hope - perhaps even loving? That would be the best of all.

“It’s just a bit overwhelming, that’s all. I’m still not all that used to someone doting on my every feature. But it’s very flattering.” Carlos’ thumb stroked across Cecil’s cheek, rough and solid and just the perfect counterpoint to the softness of the lovely raven hair that Cecil’s hands still carded through. Cecil felt his smile broadening, and tried to bury his face even further in that deliciously strong palm.

“Besides, what’s a bit of overactive flattery? I think I’ve got the best catch in town. You’ve got the right number of limbs and a pulse and everything.”

Cecil’s hands stuttered for a second, then picked up their pace again.

“Cecil, what - oh, oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sure you’d be lovely even if you had four arms instead of two.”

The apology in Carlos’ eyes was heartbreaking. Cecil peeked out from behind the borrowed hand, entirely unable to keep up any sort of mood at all when faced with such a appealingly pleading visage.

“You mean it?”

“Of course I do,” Carlos smiled, “but the current arrangement has an awful lot going for it, too.”

“Can I… can I show you something?”

“Mm?”

And there was that expression Cecil knew really well, the one he usually really liked. The one that meant “I’m scientifically interested but worried this may prove dangerous, though of course mere danger will not stop my quest for knowledge.” Or at least, Cecil was fairly sure it meant that. It’s the way Carlos looked when you told him about planned sinkholes or how to make blood sacrifices to get your electronic appliances behaving, or when he saw something he wasn’t meant to acknowledge and wanted to test how close one could get to the Dog Park.

Cecil wasn’t sure he liked it so much when it was directed at him.

“You promise you’d be okay with me if I was a bit different.”

“I just said even if you had four arms, didn’t I? Promise.” But the Look was still there.

Still, Carlos had promised, and beautiful Carlos was not one to lie - he’d even said that untruths were an impediment to knowledge and science, and he couldn’t stand them. So it would be fine. Just fine.

\---

The closest thing Carlos could think of later was origami. Unfolding and unfolding and unfolding until the tiny little shape of the man was lost into something vast and of entirely different dimensionality. There were still… creases. Lines. That suggested it might compress somehow but Carlos’ staring eyes could not even begin to comprehend what they saw.

Carlos was very very quiet. He flinched when Cecil reached out to him, and his eyes darted everywhere until he lit upon a route that did not seem to contain any of the vast alien dimensionality of Cecil.

“I think I would like to go home.”

Cecil collapsed back into himself to reach out with arms that were human, strictly and entirely human in their weight and shape and Carlos flinched anyway and only repeated his statement, his caramel skin paled and grey.

“I think I would like to go home.”

Cecil was still sitting on the sofa, very still and curled into himself, as small as he could make himself without folding into something else, when the door closed.

The text came the next morning.

_"I think we should see other people."_

 


End file.
